Way worse oil change from heel

[max49]

Drivers fiasco oil change has nothing on this one.
My son, who's 19 is very talented in things he is interested in and has scholarships and doing very well in college , in business, marketing and graphic design.

He does'nt really have any desire to be a mechanic.
Any he has a new to him '04 Explorer and he was going to change the oil. He has chnged the oil on his old '91 Explorer and my '03 F-150 and Mom's '00 Blazer.
I was in the garage working on a motorcycle.
He drained the oil and had changed the oil filter.
I walked out to talk to him , looked under his SUV and OMG he had drained the transmission.
To make things (MUCH) worse, the '04 Explorer has no transmission dipstick and no way to check or add fluid. The book says 'you should never have to check the transmission oil unless there is a leak or the tranny is acting up. In which case you need to take it to'your authorized Ford dealer.
So we had to call a tow truck to haul it all 4 wheels off the ground to the Ford dealer.
Our Camping World ERS sent the truck in about a half hr. 9:15 PM
My son feels terrible about this but experience is the best teacher but also the hardest teacher. I also feel bad because I was right in the garage.
I did tell him that I'll be teasing him about this , probably for the rest of my life. I also told him that the mechanics at Burt Ford will get a good laugh at this too.
Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself too. Luckily, we never even started the engine after he changed the engine oil so no damage can be done to the transmission.
See Driver, you oil change was a piece of cake compared to this.
I just wanted to share this with you guys, now don't laugh, ha ha

[max49]

Drivers fiasco oil change has nothing on this one.
My son, who's 19 is very talented in things he is interested in and has scholarships and doing very well in college , in business, marketing and graphic design.

He does'nt really have any desire to be a mechanic.
Any he has a new to him '04 Explorer and he was going to change the oil. He has chnged the oil on his old '91 Explorer and my '03 F-150 and Mom's '00 Blazer.
I was in the garage working on a motorcycle.
He drained the oil and had changed the oil filter.
I walked out to talk to him , looked under his SUV and OMG he had drained the transmission.
To make things (MUCH) worse, the '04 Explorer has no transmission dipstick and no way to check or add fluid. The book says 'you should never have to check the transmission oil unless there is a leak or the tranny is acting up. In which case you need to take it to'your authorized Ford dealer.
So we had to call a tow truck to haul it all 4 wheels off the ground to the Ford dealer.
Our Camping World ERS sent the truck in about a half hr. 9:15 PM
My son feels terrible about this but experience is the best teacher but also the hardest teacher. I also feel bad because I was right in the garage.
I did tell him that I'll be teasing him about this , probably for the rest of my life. I also told him that the mechanics at Burt Ford will get a good laugh at this too.
Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself too. Luckily, we never even started the engine after he changed the engine oil so no damage can be done to the transmission.
See Driver, you oil change was a piece of cake compared to this.
I just wanted to share this with you guys, now don't laugh, ha ha

[rvten]

I think maybe dad will be doing the next oil change or the Ford dealer.

[DriVer]

Thanks for sharing!

[depchief]

Well Dad, it could have been much worse, thank heavens the engine did not start, or he began to add oil to an all ready full engine.

Having sons, I always tried to supervise, but after a few times you figure they can get it right.

[max49]

yes, it could have been worse.
His girlfriend already told him that she won't be asking him to change the oil in her car, but that won't fly with dad, I've already told him that, it just shows me that he needs more practice.
Besides none of our other vehicles have a drain plug on the transmission pan

[max49]

The dealer said $52 to put the tran fluid back in or $153 to change it. They don't even pull the pan. Said it has a lifetime filter. They said they 'power flushed' it and put 16 qts of oil in. They got us over a barrel. There is no way to even check it ourselves and no way to verify they changed it and the book says it holds 12.7 qts.
I guess I'm getting old, I don't think I like all this 'high tech stuff'

[rvten]

Better not let him under the MH. Allison trans has a DRAIN PLUG!!!

[Full-Timers]

OK, I would think if the dealer could put oil in it than you should be able too also. It might cost you a special tool to check the level but should be cheaper than what they want to charge.

[max49]

There must be a way obviously. Of course they don't want to share their secrets but I asked them how they check it and I got this long story about getting it up to a certain temperature and the computer tells them when it's full. I think this 'no dip stick' thing is kind of new so it might take awhile for the aftermarket to start selling the tools we need to do it ourselves. But what do I know, maybe it's just new to me.
Both my '03 F-150 and my '04 F-150 company truck have transmission dipsticks.
The explorer does have a 5 speed tranny and a V-6 while my PU's have 4 speeds and V-8's

[BEBOP]

on my 2 saturn toads, the 2000 LW1 does not have a dip stick and the manual is like the ford explorer in the original post in this thread.
But the 2001 SC2 sport couple has both a dip stick and a drain plug.
go figure?
Bebop

[LeeB]

Your son can look at it this way..... At least now he has new oil in the transmission...